Discussion » Questions » Arts » Do you still love Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf"?
Marguerite, the Beloved

Do you still love Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf"?

It will be performed here in Houston this weekend by the Houston Symphony. Parents usually try to take their children to this because it teaches about the names and sounds of the instruments of the orchestra.

I still love listening to this music.

1. Peter is depicted by the violins.
2. The duck, by the oboe.
3. The cat, clarinet.
4. The grandpa, the bassoon.
5. The wolf, the French horns.
6. Hunters shooting, the timpani, or kettle drums.

Music Analysis:
This type of music is called "program music". The term was applied to European classical music, particularly that of the Romantic Age of the 19th century. It also refers to instrumental music. Usually orchestral music.

Posted - September 15, 2016
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Responses


  • This is my favourite of his work

      September 16, 2016 2:17 AM MDT
    1

  • 23577
    Yes, I've always loved it.
    As a young child my favorite theme was always (and still is as an adult)  "Grandfather's theme."
    :) This post was edited by WelbyQuentin at October 4, 2016 9:49 PM MDT
      October 4, 2016 9:32 PM MDT
    1

  • 2515
    I do. In fact, I listened to it the other day. I went to a philharmonic concert last month and it reminded me about how much I miss going to the symphony regularly. Then I started listening to concerts on you tube. 
      October 4, 2016 9:51 PM MDT
    1

  • 3719
    Oh yes, I enjoy it! It's quite a catchy melody that sometimes threatens to become an "ear-worm" for me.

    Benjamin Britten wrote a similarly educational piece, the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, but this is more straightforwardly a demonstration, not wrapped around a story, so as the title implies may have been aimed at older children.

    Never heard of "program music" before. I've always heard European music written in the Romantic style described as just that: Romantic. I don't know who coined the phrase "program music", but it is so vague it conveys nothing. Somehow it suggests the anodyne compilations played to all but listened to by none in supermarkets and motorway service-stations. In the latter, most noticeably in the "bogs" of all places!

    I think I've only ever been physically to one orchestral concert, and that was on a school trip so, err, several decades ago; but I listen to BBC Radio Three a lot, and that carries many directly or recorded live concerts and recitals in all manner of styles. It even relays an annual season of operas from the Metropolitan Opera House, in New York.
      October 5, 2016 4:46 PM MDT
    1

  • 604
    I heard it on records back in the 1950's. the old 78s!!  anyone remember those? but I digress.....I can't say it's my very favorite thing, but I AM all for children being exposed to music of all kinds; and this is certainly one that most kids would enjoy....

    also reminds me of Leonard Bernsteins' "Concerts for Young People'which I think were recorded but not sure.....so if any of you parents out there want to expose your children to decent music, you may want to look it up on a search engine; there may be videos, recordings, etc. of them.


      October 19, 2016 9:00 AM MDT
    1

  • 604
    well, basically I"m not crazy about it.......heard it on records when I was a kid......it was OK     I do like symphonic music, classics, etc., 

    and I think IT'S WONDERFUL FOR CHILDREN TO BE EXPOSED TO THIS TYPE OF THING!!!

    ESP. at a live performance........if parents can spend money on candy and junky toys, they can sure as hell save up and take their kids to the symphony!!

    something they will always remember!!!!!

    but no, it's not my favorite piece of music, altho' I do respect what it's trying 'to do'.......

    :-D

    :)
      May 9, 2018 8:00 AM MDT
    1

  • 6098
    That always seemed like the kind of thing people thought kids were supposed to like but they really did not.  I didn't learn to like concert music until I was in my 30s. 
      May 9, 2018 8:16 AM MDT
    1